Profiles of grammatical morphology and sentence imitation in children with specific language impairment and Down syndrome.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the grammatical morphology and sentence imitation performance of two different groups of children with language impairment and to compare their performance with that of children learning language typically. Expressive use of tense-bearing and non-tense-related grammatical morphemes was explored. Children with specific language impairment (SLI), with Down syndrome (DS), and with typical language development (TL) were matched on mean length of utterance (MW). Performance was compared primarily on composite measures of tense, tense inflections, and non-tense morphemes, as well as on the Sentences subtest of the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-Revised (WPPSI-R; D. Wechsler, 1989). Exploratory analyses were completed on a set of 11 individual grammatical morphemes as a follow-up to the principal analyses. As predicted, the children with SLI performed significantly more poorly than the children with TL on all three composite measures. In addition, the DS group exhibited significantly weaker performance than did the TL group on the tense inflections and non-tense morpheme composites. Although there were no statistically reliable differences between the SLI and DS groups on any morpheme measure, the groups were not comparably weak in their use of the regular post, -ed; the irregular third person singular morphemes (e.g., has, does); the present progressive, -ing; or the use of modals. The SLI and DS groups both performed more poorly than did the TL group on the sentence imitation task.

The relationship between language and reading. Preliminary results from a longitudinal investigation.

This longitudinal study investigated the relationship between language and reading from three perspectives. First, we examined the reading and writing outcomes of children identified with spoken language impairments (LIs). Second, the early language abilities of children identified as poor readers were investigated. Finally, reading and language abilities were treated as continuous variables and the developmental relationship between them was studied. In general, the results indicated that language abilities (both phonological processing and oral language) significantly contributed to achievement in the early stages of reading (2nd grade) and had an even stronger effect as children acquired greater reading proficiency (4th grade).

Two models of grammar facilitation in children with language impairments: phase 2.

Fey, Cleave, Long and Hughes (1993) demonstrated the effectiveness of two 5-month interventions for preschoolers with problems in expressive grammar. This article reports the results of an additional 5-month intervention phase for 18 of the original participants. Results indicated that although participants improved during Phase 2, improvements generally were not as strong as those noted for Phase 1. Gains were larger and more consistent for children who received the relatively costly clinician-administered approach than for those who received a less expensive parent-administered intervention. The parent intervention was successful in helping parents to use sentence recasts, and especially so for parents of children at relatively early stages of grammatical development, Finally, children who were dismissed after a highly successful treatment Phase 1 generally exhibited no gains over the no-treatment Phase 2.

Effects of grammar facilitation on the phonological performance of children with speech and language impairments.

Although there is a great deal of evidence for a significant developmental relationship between grammar and phonology, the nature of this relationship and its implications for the intervention of children with impairments in both grammar and phonology are unclear. The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether two approaches to grammar facilitation that placed no emphasis on phonology would have indirect effects on the phonological output of preschoolers with speech and language impairments. All 26 subjects, ages 44-70 months, had impairments both in grammar and in phonology. Ten subjects took part in a clinician-administered intervention program, eight subjects received a similar intervention program implemented by their parents, and eight children served as delayed intervention controls (Fey, Cleave, Long, & Hughes, 1993). The results indicated that despite a strong effect for the intervention on the children's grammatical output, there were no indirect effects on the subjects' phonological production. It is concluded that despite a close relationship between the development of grammar and phonology, language intervention approaches for children approximately 4 to 6 years of age should address phonological problems directly if significant effects on phonology are to be expected.

Two approaches to the facilitation of grammar in children with language impairment: an experimental evaluation.

Two approaches to grammar facilitation in preschool-age children with language impairment were evaluated. One approach was administered by a speech-language pathologist and the other was presented by the subjects' parents, who were trained by the speech-language pathologist. Both treatment packages ran for 4 1/2 months and made use of focused stimulation procedures and a cyclical goal-attack strategy. Subjects were 30 children between the ages of 3:8 and 5:10 (years:months) who had marked delays in grammatical development. Children who served in a delayed-treatment control group averaged no gains over their no-treatment period. In contrast, large treatment effects were observed for both treatment groups on three of four measures of grammatical expression. However, closer inspection of the data revealed that the effects for the clinician treatment were more consistent across treatment administrations than were those for the parent treatment. Although the specific contributions of the focused stimulation procedures and the cyclical goal attack strategy were not evaluated, the results support the viability of these components as parts of larger treatment packages. The results also support the participation of parents as primary intervention agents in grammar facilitation programs. When parents take such a large role in the intervention process, however, it is imperative that the children's progress be monitored carefully and that program adjustments be made whenever gains are smaller than expected.

A hypothesis-testing approach to treatment of a child with an idiosyncratic (morpho)phonological system.

Evaluation of a 6-year-old language-impaired girl's phonological and morphophonological systems revealed several idiosyncratic characteristics. Three hypotheses regarding the nature of this child's impairment were developed and then tested by monitoring the child's progress in therapy. The results of the intervention program supported all three hypotheses in principle. It is concluded that phonologically impaired children must learn to communicate facing articulatory and linguistic constraints similar to but often greater than those influencing the performance of younger normally developing children. It can be expected, then, that these children often will use phonological rules commonly found among normal children. It should also be expected that they occasionally will be led to phonological and morphological solutions to their communication problems that are unusual, if not idiosyncratic. The hypothesis-testing approach used in this investigation is advocated as a useful step in the development of an efficient intervention program and as a means of gaining insight into the nature of children's phonological and morphological impairments.

Partner age as a variable in the conversational performance of specifically language-impaired and normal-language children.

The language used by a group of 4 1/2-6-year-old specifically language-impaired (SLI) children, a group of same-aged normal-language (NL) children, and a group of younger NL children were observed in three dyadic contexts: with an adult female, with a peer, and with a toddler. Ten measures were selected to analyze the children's performance across partner contexts. The results revealed that the SLI children were as assertive in the conversations as were the children in the same-aged NL group. Further, the SLI children modified their language in the same manner and to the same extent as the same-aged NL children on all but three measures: use of internal state questions, mean length of utterance, and mean preverb length. Their ability to adapt their speech based on the age-related characteristics of the partner appeared at times to be greater than that of the younger NL children.

Speech style modifications of language-impaired children.

Six language-impaired children, each having a mean length of utterance (MLU) greater than 3.0, were observed in dyadic interactions with (1) normal-language children of similar chronological ages and (2) normal-language children who were younger but exhibited similar MLUs. Eight measures analyzing overall sentence complexity, sentence form, and features of discourse were used to compare the subjects' linguistic behaviors in the two conditions. Across conditions, the subjects made changes in their speech that were consistent with the speech style modifications made by normal-language children observed in earlier interaction studies. Lower Mean Pre-Verb Length, a greater degree of conversational assertiveness, and a higher frequency of Internal-State Questions were characteristic of the subjects in the MLU-matched condition as compared to the age-matched condition. Diagnostic and therapy considerations are discussed in view of these findings.